An amber weather warning has been issued by the Met Office, with more than a month’s worth of rain expected to fall in some areas of the UK on Monday.
Forecasters have warned of potential flooding, difficult driving conditions, travel disruption and lightning.
The heavy rain warning will be in force from 5am to 9pm on Monday, and covers parts of central and north-east England, including Worcester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Hull.
Elsewhere in Wales, southern England, the Midlands, north-west England and Yorkshire, a yellow alert is in place.
“With the rain we’ve already seen over the last couple of days this certainly has the potential to bring some disruption and flooding,” Met Office meteorologist Jonthan Vautrey said.
Many parts of the UK could see between 60mm and 80m of rain, with up to 120mm possible in a few locations, according to the Met Office.
Early on Monday, the Environment Agency issued flood alerts across 69 areas where flooding is possible with 13 warnings in place where flooding is likely.
Flood duty manager Sarah Cook said “persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms” could lead to some property flooding and travel disruption.
Ms Cook added: “The impacts could include localised flooding in urban areas and fast-responding catchments, including some property flooding as well as travel disruption. The risk from river flooding remains low.
“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground and ready to support local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.
“We urge people to plan their journeys carefully, follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.
“People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation as well as following @EnvAgency on X, formerly Twitter, for the latest flood updates.”
Flooding is expected in Luton in Bedfordshire, Atherstone in Warwickshire, parts of London and elsewhere in the UK. Some homes and businesses could be hit by power cuts while some communities could be cut off by flooded roads, the forecaster said.
13,000 lightning strikes were recorded on Saturday, with a house in Wrexham reportedly setting alight after being struck by lightning.
On Sunday, there were also reports that a tornado hit Luton in Bedfordshire.
Bedfordshire Police said it was aware of “multiple issues” caused by the weather and urged people to only contact them if “there is an immediate threat to life or crime in progress”.
